The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 31, 1979, Page Page 10, Image 10
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ESSES
:?SDH
Paul I
'Americai
in betterBy
David Baker
Q?m*cock FHm Critk:
wnen 11 was reieaseu six years
ago, George Lucas' American
Graffiti came seemingly out of
nowhere to become the sixth
highest grossing film of all time (it
has since dropped eight notches to
14th place). This lighthearted look
at a handful of California
teenagers growing up in 1962 set off
a wave of nostalgia that has yet to
subside and launched the careers
Movie Review
of several of today's hottest actors,
amonc them Richard Drevfuss.
Ron Howard, Cindy Williams,
Harrison Ford, Kathleen Quinlan
and Suzanne Somers.
It is only natural that such a
successful motion picture would
give birth to a sequel, and , surprisingly
enough, it's a very good
sequel at that. Written and
directed by newcomer B.W.L.
Norton, More American Graffiti
a
lAHT^
Ent<*ft*tnm*nt Editor
Yes, this is the album that hi
"The Devil Went Down t
fiflnrflin" on it. no doubt one of til
most fun songs of the past fe
years, topping even "Disco Duck.
But Million Mile Reflections hs
nine good songs on it, and it ma
surpass Fire on the Mountain e
Daniels' best.
j Album Review
It's hard to say just exactly whj
Charlie Daniels is all about. (
course, he is a superb fiddle play*
and a mainstay of the Nashvil
country-rock scene, helping 01
groups like Marshall Tucker an
Lynyrd Skynyrd from time to tim<
But on Million Mile Reflection
Daniels consciously expands hi
repertoire, including every thin
from hard rock to jazz.
One might be prone in the face c
>
?
" i Ky^
.eMat: John Milnerin 'Gi
i firaffiti' q1
than-avera
has to be the most ambitious
followup ever made.
The film takes seven of the
original's most memorable
characters and, through four
separate and disticnt stories,
shows us what happened to them in
the mid-1960's.
The story concerning John
Milner (Paul LeMat) takes place
on New Year's Eve 1964. John has
given up street machines in favor
of racing dragsters, and it's at the
track that he meets and falls in
love with Eva, an Icelandic exchange
student, winningly
protrayed by Anna Bjorn (an
Olivia Newton-John lookalike) who
speaks no English. The sequence
beautifully details the problems
the two lovers encounter while
trying to make their feelings
known to each other.
Vietnam on New Year's Eve 1965
is the setting for the story dealing
with Terry "Toad" Fields (Charlie
Martin Smith) and Little Joe (Bo
: Hopkins), the former leader of the
k rides
I these facts to accuse Charlie
Daniels of selling out, of aban
doning his country roots. But sucl
is far from the case. No mattei
what kind of music the Charli<
Daniels Band plays, it is im
possible to ignore the country
influence everywhere.
HPU r* n nnrtM rf tlnivhrtf o V\/vi f t
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that the effect is so subtle. Then
are few twangy steel guitars, fev
plaintively wailed vocals and few
unfortunately, fiddle tunes. Yet th<
Nashville flavor of the musi<
stands out all the same.
What is it about this pervasive
1S influence of country music tha
0 allows it to insinuate itself into
ie everything it touches? It seems a:
w if the very atmosphere in whicl
? country music exists breeds tha
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UUWiriiUIliC 9UUUU BU UlSUItCUVI
y and alive.
IS Regardless of outward type
Daniels' music brings to mini
-i pickup trucks, country stores an<
| hopping juke joints. More than an;
J other form of American music
at country has its own specifii
)f references, its own home territory
2r Country music does not jus
(e originate in the South; it is tin
it South.
id . Daniels is part of a grea
e. tradition of country performers
s, from Hank Williams to Portei
is Waggoner to Donna Fargo
g Country music stars, regardless o
the pressures of competition an<
>f personal gain, seem to have mor<
IP
affiti'
:ars return
ge sequel
Pharohs. Their disgruntlement
over the atrocities of war has
turned the former enemies into
lifelong friends, both of whom are
now experts at coming up with
ideas about going AWOL.
Debbie Medway (Candy Clark)
and Carol Morrison (Mackenzie
Phillips) are the stars of the
sequence taking place on New
Year's Eve 1966. The two girls
have become flower children and
are living together in a commune
as the story begins. We subsequently
learn that Debbie makes
a living by penorming in smp
shows and that all of the money she
earns goes to support her
boyfriend, an out-of-work musician
who fools around behind her back.
Carol fades into the background
a Iter cne mm s ursi naii-nour, so
we never learn anything about her,
save for the fact that she has
changed her name to Rainbow.
The New Year's Eve 1967 story,
belongs to Laurie and Steve
again <
- in common with one another, mor
of a sense of family, tha
i musicians in other fields. Daniel
' has dedicated Million Mil
s Reflections to the late Lynyr
- Skynyrd leader Ronnie Van Zan
f an act of rare beauty in th
reputedly heartless music ii
* d us try.
J At times, in fact, this albui
f seems almost naive in its a]
, proach. But the music never pul
J on airs, never tries to be what
: cannot be. If the images at time
are a little worn, it is only becaus
5 the music is by nature so sincei
t that the triteness sticks 01
) noticeably. The album opens wil
i "Passing Lane, which starts oi
1 as a deceptively hard rocker but
t about the old ramblin' man theor
2 However, as always Daniels adds
twist; he takes to the highway I
, get away from bad music: "I'\
J been rocked into ruin, I've bee
i discoed to death, I've been fur
/ rocked and punk rocked 'til I can
L. it. T t. I
, caicn my uream, 1 ve oet
2 reggaed 'til I'm ragged, I've bee
new waved 'til I'm blind."
t Even on such a common then
3 the Daniels band churns o<
refreshing, moving-on music. T1
t nrwvpnnatinn with Mni> nn tt
, road is summed up in the fin
r line: "No more blues just as lor
. as I can move."
"Blue Star' is a surprising]
I Sixties-ish tune, vaguel
- reminiscent of groups lifee th
. .
Toad (Charlie Mat
Bolander (Cindy Williams and Ron
Howard), who have recently
ho^nmp (hp nnrpnts nf twin sons
Laurie wants to start working
again and Steve will not allow her
to do so. After a heated argument,
Laurie storms out of the house, and
when Steve goes out after her, the
couplc accidentally wind up in the
middle of a violent antiwar
demonstration.
The four stories are woven
together in a very elaborate
structure, and each is filmed in a
different style typical of films of
the neriod.
The drag racing sequences an
filmed in Panavision, with ver>
little camera movement. They looh
very much like the films of todaj
? clean, crisp and uncluttered
The Vietnam scenes are filmed or
16. millimeter, which winds up as
a relatively small square frame ir
the center of the screen. The use ol
high-contrast filters makes their
on'Refl,
e Turtles. Again, the music is n
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ii cuuuuy uui uic 1111050 aic u
Is same; the lost love is idealized in
e a "blue star" that is beautiful b
d cold.
t, Then Daniels really surprises i
le with "Jitterbug," about a jazz-c
1- gangster who could "scare tl
letters off a highway sign." Fro
ti an introduction that would plea
0- Benny Goodman, the band mov
is into a competent jazz-boogie. B
it pvf?n in this niece the Mariner hnr
?s have a Nashville sound to then
;e and in the end "Jitterbug"
e another song about another kind
jt cowboy. The outlaw legei
th remains strong.
it Side one closes with "Refit
is tions," a beautiful song abc
y. Ronnie Van Zant that slur
a unusual depth of feelin
to Laudatory songs such as this oft
? ? j i ? ? _ #
re Dog aown in neaps or praise
;n obscure reminiscing, b
ik "Reflections" sums up much of t
i't spirit of Van Zant and the wh<
;n music business: "It was October
;n St. Louis town when we heard tti
the Free Bird had fallen to t
le ground; and we all said a pray
nt before we went down... to play."
\e
ie And then opening side two
al have the wonderful "The De
ig Went Down to Georgia/' a sc
much lilre Daniel's first co
ly mercial success "Uneasy Ridei
ly But the former is the much bet
le number; from the legend-ii
?4m&&
_ .JriJessK^ fe*.
f/n Smith) wants out
look very much like newsreel
footage.
ine story dealing wiin ueDDie,
Carol and Haight-Ashbury
features split-screen, multiple
images and floating frames, all of
which become slightly unnerving
after a while. The sequence concerning
the Bolanders looks very
much like a television situation
comedy.
The photography, by Caleb
Deschanel, is outstanding in each
nf (ha fftiir cannan/wu! anrl Mnrtnn'c
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direction is quite good as well, but
the movie succeeds through its
wealth of fine acting. LeMat and
Williams are especially deserving
j of praise.
Hfnro Am orient* CI rnffiti mAV tint
; always work perfectly, and the
r seemingly random editing may
make it rather hard to follow at
i first, but it is refreshing to see a
5 sequel that is not content with just
i being a remake. If I were a
f piofessor, I'd give it an A+ for
i effort.
ections'
ot story to Daniels' furiously vir
tie tuostic fiddling, "The Devil Went
to Down" is almost impossible to
ut dislike.
"Mississippi" is an appropriate
us follow-up to "The Devil Went
at Down;" it is a lazy, laid-back
fie country ballad. One feels after
m hearing it the peace and relaxation
se associated with the state hv
es Daniels. The most4'country" song
ut on the album, "Mississippi"
ns sounds like the bluesy work of the
n, Marshall Tucker Band at their
is best.
of
nd Daniels and his band make a
strong statement on racism in
"RliriH Man " wM/>h traufc fha
TTIUVB1 V* VUMI Vi?V
>ut subject as only a Southerner, who
ws has seen the horror firsthand,
ig. could do. The song is about an old
en black man who was blinded by the
or Ku Klux Klan, left to play guitar on
ut street corners. It manages to
he evoke all the oathos of the storv
>le without being maudlin or bitter,
in "Rainbow Hide" closes the
lat album appropriately, since Million
he Mile Reflections seems to be about
rer a journey, real or. imagined,
through the beauty and the terror
of life. By embracing both exwe
tremea without making either too
ivil Hnminnnt thA Pharlip HflniAk
>ng Band has made a fine album, a
m- tribute to the spirit of Bonnie Van
p." Zant and of the entire realm of
ter music, the spirit that takes us on
ike ... rainbow rides. '